An analysis of an ancient Chinese fossil known as “Tianyuan Man” dated at 40 kyr has revealed some surprising findings. We’ve known that this fossil is closely related to modern Asians, or so we thought. However, recent analysis of the fossils yielded a surprise no one, almost, was expecting and that is that a 35 kyr fossil found in Belgium (GoyetQ116-1) thought to be closely related to ancient Europeans shares some genetic similarities to Tianyuan Man and these similarities are NOT shared by other ancient European remains. Additionally, the analysis showed that some Native American populations from South America appear to have a genetic connection with Tianyuan Man! BTW Tianyuan Man was a Homo Sapiens species.

What is beginning to appear is that the population that crossed into the Americas about 20 kya was NOT one single migration or time period but several and at least one of these groups had genetic ties to ancestors that contributed DNA to modern Papuan and Onge people. There appears to be no trace of this connection in present day East Asians or Siberians, however and unlike these two present day populations Tianyuan Man appears to have genetic similarities to some native South American populations!

What this newest analysis does is confirms, directly, that multiple ancestries in Native Americans were all from populations originating in mainland Asia and it seems to indicate that the migrations from Asia to the Americas happened around 20 kya or more. However, Tianyuan Man is at least twice that age and this means that the populations that migrated into the Americas were diverse and those diversities must have existed for at least 40,000 years. Continue Reading

Dragon Bone Hill overlooks the sprawling Chinese capital of Beijing (formerly Peking). It is a small limestone mountain visited by over 150,000 visitors each year. It was here in 1929 that the first specimen of Asian Homo Erectus was found known as “Peking Man.” The find consisted of a nearly complete skull dated between 680-780 kyr. The specimen was also one of the earliest ancient human ancestor fossil remains ever found but since that time the fame and importance of Peking Man has dwindled, sadly. Older fossils have been discovered in Africa where environmental conditions for fossil formation are more conducive. China and Southeast Asia tend not to be very good places for finding fossils due to the tropical climate and wet conditions in much of the region. Today Chinese paleoanthropologists wonder if H. erectus died out or contributed genes to modern Chinese people.

In the past decade China has stepped up efforts to uncover evidence of early human ancestors in the country and surrounding region. Old fossils are being reanalysed and old theories are being revised as new evidence comes to light. And the Chinese government has built a million dollar lab to extract and sequence ancient DNA!

More and more paleoanthropologists are beginning to finally pay attention to what is being found and what has been found in China and Asia in general. Discoveries in China and Asia clearly indicate that there was a variety of prehistoric human ancestors in the region and these finds are beginning to challenge some conventional ideas about just what our evolutionary history might really be!

Sadly, Western researchers tend to view fossils and artifacts in terms of those found in Africa and Europe due to the age of the fossils found there and because they are closer to major research facilities. However, what is becoming increasingly clear is that Asian fossils do NOT fit into the traditional narrative of human evolution

There have been several discoveries over the past few years that are changing what we think about how and when the Americans were populated by modern humans and now comes yet MORE evidence that modern humans were in Brazil about 23 kya (thousand years ago). These new discoveries are proving our textbooks WRONG and frankly that is a breath of fresh air!!

A recent article in the journal “Antiquity” suggests that prehistoric modern humans were hunting giant ground sloths in eastern Brazil 23 kya. A large number of stone artifacts and bones were found at a rock shelter at Santa Elina between 1954-2004 and reanalysis now suggests small, bony sloth skin plates were notched and perforated and made into ornaments by modern humans living in the area. Remains of fire hearths were also found in the sediment layers. Dating suggests humans were living in the area at least 20 kya and the dates also suggest that humans were living again in the area between 10,000 and 2000 years ago. Continue Reading

Dr. Cyclone Covey was a history professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina and he had some interesting theories. One book he authored entitled “Calalus” tells of what he believes was a Roman Jewish colony in Arizona northeast of Tucson. He believed the “Tucson Artifacts” were real although most scholars believe them to be fakes. I’ll be posting about these artifacts after I examine them myself very soon.

Portrait of the Toltec emperor Tecpancaltzin lztaccaltzin, 9th ruler of the Toltecs

Covey believed various Jews sailed from the Portuguese port of Porto Cale and founded a city in Florida which they named “Cale.” Today this alleged ancient settlement is known as Ocala which is in North-Central Florida. He also held the view that some Jews escaped Rome and they also set sail to the Americas from Porto Cale in Portugal. Once across the Atlantic they established a Jewish-Roman colony in 775 A. D. near Tucson, Arizona. Further, he believes that during this time the Toltec controlled most of what is today Arizona and New Mexico and that they continuously fought with these new arrivals from Europe until decades later when they finally defeated them and took the Jews captive after destroying their two cities in Arizona. So, these northern Toltec took the Jewish-Roman survivors captive and marched them to Tula, the Toltec capital in Mexico. He also points out that the Toltec emperor at this time was white skinned with a beard! That the Toltec may have dominated Arizona and New Mexico is believed to be so by several researchers so Covey’s thesis is not all that far-fetched! Continue Reading

Did an ancient explorer make it to the Arctic back in 325 BC? Sounds incredible doesn’t it? His name was Pytheas of Massalia and he’s believed to have gone to the Arctic and returned homw safely. Problem was when he got back home no one believed him and they thought his mad!

Back in his times most people believed that the Sun was jerked around in the sky by the gods and when Pytheas described a place where the Sun didn’t shine all winter lng, a place covered in permafrost and frozen waters with icebergs no one believed him for an astounding 1000 years!

Unfortunately, anything that Pytheas may have written about his trek to the regions of ice is lost and most of what we know about his trek comes from the writings of people who didn’t believe him. This man was an explorer and sailor btw. To get to the Arctic he sailed through the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibralter) and to do so he had to manage to get past the Carthaginian army who had a blockade in the area at the time! Continue Reading

A new study and find has come out and in my mind it is MAJOR NEWS when it comes to ancient human ancestors being in North America. The San Diego Natural History Museum has announced that a recent Mastodon discovery shakes up our beliefs of when early man came to North America and the evidence comes from broken bones and rocks.

At an Ice Age site in San Diego, CA bones 130 kyr and teeth from a mastodon show evidence of EARLY HUMAN modification. Analysis of these finds dramatically alters the timeline for when humans first arrived in N. America. The report was published today in the journal “Nature.”

Museum paleontologists discovered the remains during routine work to clear the way for a new freeway expansion in the area. The discovery includes bones, teeth, and tusks and many of them have been sharply broken. They were buried alongside large stones that apparently were used as hammer stones and anvils. This makes the site the oldest in situ and well documented site in North America according to the museum.

According to Judy Gradwohl who is president and CEO of the Museum this discovery rewrites our understanding of when “humans reached the New World.” She went on to say, “The evidence we found at this site indicates that some HOMININ SPECIES was living in North America 115,000 YEARS EARLIER than previously thought.” Did you get that? SOME HOMININ SPECIES! That’s CODE TALK! Why didn’t she say Homo sapiens, or modern humans, or something along those lines? Instead she uses the phrase “some hominin species.” Why” Because I bet they suspicion this “hominin species” was NOT modern humans!!

Gradwohl went on to state, “This rasises intriguing questions about how these EARLY HUMANS arrived here and WHO THEY WERE.” In other words they don’t know who these early humans were and they don’t even know if they were early modern humans are some more archaic human like HOMO ERECTUS! And I’m betting my money on HOMO ERECTUS! In my mind this is evidence of this species being in the Americas around 100 kya!! Continue Reading

In a recent post on this blog we learned about the Haida people of British Columbia, Canada and how their oral tradition speaks of their ancestors sailing across the Pacific to Hawaii and even to Asia. The post I’m referring to is at:

From British Columbia to Hawaii is 2,763 miles and from Hawaii to Japan is about 4, 116 miles. So what we are talking about here is a distance between BC and Japan of about 6,879 miles and that is a pretty long distance. Question is when the Haida ancestors were doing all of this sailing upon the Pacific waters was the distance between these lands as long as it is today?

I bring this subject up because there is something known as “The Expanding Earth Hypothesis” which basically says our planet is growing and has grown bigger and bigger since the origins of our planet began. This theory has been mostly rejected by mainstream scientists today but let’s take a look at it for ourselves. Continue Reading

The world’s oldest KNOWN boat is actually a canoe that basically is nothing more than a hollowed out log. It’s known as the “Pesse Canoe” and is dated at between 11-9.5 kya. It is kept in the Netherlands inside the Drents Museum. The Pesse Canoe is a dugout measuring 117 inches (9.75 ft) long and 17 inches wide. The material is from a single Scottish pine log. Marks inside the canoe indicate it was hallowed out using flint tools or antler tools.

This canoe was first discovered in 1955 during construction of a highway in the Netherlands near the village of Pesse, hence its name. It was found in a peat bog when the peat was being removed by roadway construction workers. It was located about six and one-half feet below the surface but was thought to only be an ancient log and nothing more. Upon closer inspection by a farmer named Hendrik Wanders it was determined to be a canoe. So was this thing seaworthy? That’s been an ongoing debate since it was found! Archaeologist Jaap Beuker made a replica of the canoe in 2011 and paddled the replica on the water successfully. So, it did float and it was seaworthy! Continue Reading

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